Adapting Your Content to the Customer Life Cycle
Categorized in: Content
When was the last time you made a major purchase? What was the process you used to buy it? Let’s say you decided you needed a new car. What’s the process you take to buy it? If you’re like most people, chances are pretty good you’ll start by researching the various cars that are out there until you come up with a list of the ones you would like to test drive. After you pay a visit to each dealership, you continue the research phase until you make a decision on which car you’d like. You settle on a price, make the purchase, and spend your days driving your new vehicle.
These days, a good portion of the customer life cycle takes place online. That’s why content is important at every stage of the process. When companies put together their content strategy, they often only create a plan for the buying stage. Did you know that only around 4% of all visitors to your site are ready to buy? Buy focusing on the purchasing stage of the customer life cycle; you miss the opportunity to reach the rest of you site’s visitors!
Site visitors need to be nurtured. Your goal is to capture their attention and get them to stay long enough to read your content, sign up for your mailing list, and eventually make a purchase. However, if they’re not ready to buy and the majority of your content focuses on that, you’ll lose their interest. They’ll click off your page to find the information they need. When it’s time for them to buy, your site may be a distant memory. Don’t let this happen to you!
Your solution, then, is to make sure your site content can accommodate all stages of the customer life cycle. Customers in the “awareness” stage, for example, are just getting to know who you are as a brand and the types of products that you sell. They’re especially concerned with whether or not your brand will ultimately meet their needs. Not only that, but your content should be designed to attract them to your site in the first place. By delivering the right content that addresses this, they’ll be able to make a decision as to whether or not they want to stay with you through the additional stages. In this stage, blogging is particularly valuable.
Next, the customer enters the “interest” phase. It is here where the potential customer may be willing to give you their contact information. This is the ideal moment to get them to sign up for your mailing list. At this stage, they may be willing to form a relationship with your brand but they’re not quite sure yet. They need more information, first. Once the customer enters your visits your site, you will have the opportunity to entice them to have a relationship with your business by offering things like white pages, reports, and webinars.
Once they make it to the “purchasing” stage, you’ll have content for that as well. For example, product videos and descriptions can both give customers an overview of the features and benefits of each product. Your goal at this stage is to help them make that final decision which will ultimately lead them to click. When they become happy customers, they’ll also be willing to spread the word about your company. This is when you know that your content strategy was successful!
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